Chapter 65: Body Cultivation Part 3

Bo Xuenong felt a twinge of jealousy toward Ji Caiyan.

She wanted to drink blood.

She would drink Ji Caiyan’s.

Bo Xuenong pondered darkly, but before she could act, Shen Yanting suddenly raised her hand and pushed Bo Xuenong’s head onto her shoulder.

The rich blood fragrance and the intensely close cold scent simultaneously dominated her senses. Bo Xuenong could no longer distinguish them. In her current state, she wondered whether she wanted more to tear open Ji Caiyan’s skin and taste her flesh, or to undo Shen Yanting’s outer robes and sniff the softer fragrance beneath.

Her muddled mind couldn’t decide which prevailed. Her nose instinctively nuzzled closer to Shen Yanting’s neck.

The soft, warm breaths brushed against her neck, and Shen Yanting subconsciously wanted to dodge. Then she heard Bo Xuenong’s fragmented mutter: “Master, you really smell so good—so much better than blood.”

Shen Yanting stopped moving.

She allowed Bo Xuenong to rest on her shoulder, nose tip pressed against her neck.

She took out a Cold Water Talisman from her storage ring, crushed the talisman paper to send the spirit inscriptions toward Ge Qiqin. In an instant, icy blue water engulfed Ge Qiqin. Her body was cleansed by the cold water, and fine frost flowers appeared on her skin, overlapping into translucent ice crystals.

Once the ice crystals formed, the rotting flesh stench dissipated somewhat, and Bo Xuenong regained a bit of her reason.

Bo Xuenong shifted her head, reluctantly pulling back a little from Shen Yanting, her face flushing with shame: “Master, I’m sorry.”

She felt guilty for being so useless, unable to hold onto her mind, and regretted letting Shen Yanting see her hideous craving for flesh and blood.

She bit her lip tightly, her fierce gaze locking onto Ge Qiqin, wishing she could tear the one who made her lose control into a thousand pieces.

Without warning, Shen Yanting pinched Bo Xuenong’s chin and forcibly turned her head, shifting her line of sight from Ge Qiqin to Chen Zhou.

Compared to Ge Qiqin’s incessant clamor, Chen Zhou was much quieter.

Ever since being dragged out, she hadn’t said a word, coldly watching Bo Xuenong and Ye Zhiyao lose control, watching Shen Yanting and Ji Caiyan fret.

She seemed no different from her time in the Imperial Serenity Sect—equally silent and composed—yet her aura had completely changed.

This little junior sister, who only had core formation late stage cultivation, was now shrouded in an aura even Bo Xuenong couldn’t see through. She was definitely beyond the golden core late stage that Ye Zhiyao and the others had mentioned. When she noticed Shen Yanting and Bo Xuenong looking at her, she showed no fear. Instead, when her gaze touched Shen Yanting’s hand pinching Bo Xuenong’s chin, she gave a strange smile: “I’ve never seen such intimate master-disciple closeness before.”

“You haven’t seen it, so does that mean it doesn’t exist?”

Bo Xuenong couldn’t help but argue back with Chen Zhou, but Chen Zhou merely glanced with interest at Shen Yanting’s hand, which hadn’t yet withdrawn.

Chen Zhou seemed not to heed Bo Xuenong’s words at all. When her gaze skipped past Bo Xuenong to Ge Qiqin, who was crawling feebly on the ground behind them, it flickered briefly—the playfulness turning to a fleeting reluctance.

Feng Jin and Feng Yingbo hadn’t sunk as deeply as Bo Xuenong and quickly regained their senses.

They stared at Chen Zhou for a while too. Feng Yingbo asked: “Are you with He Xin? Are you both from the Demonic Sect?”

Chen Zhou moved, but before she could stand, two knives suddenly appeared on her arms. In a mere instant, the blade tips pierced through her palms, nailing both hands to the ground.

Chen Zhou struggled twice. Seeing she couldn’t break free, she raised her eyes to look at Shen Yanting, who had thrown the knives: “Elder Shen, you truly show no mercy at all.”

Shen Yanting examined Chen Zhou’s face, sensing her fully unleashed aura: “An out-of-body realm late stage body cultivator—I probably can’t bear that title of ‘Elder.’ You must be much older than me.”

Out-of-body realm late stage.

No wonder she and Ji Caiyan together hadn’t been able to drag her out earlier.

Bo Xuenong sized up Chen Zhou. Chen Zhou still wore that calm and composed expression. She smiled: “Can’t I just be exceptionally talented?”

“Chen Zhou.” Shen Yanting narrowed her eyes slightly, a hint of danger in them: “You have demonic qi on you, but it’s faint. You’re not from the Demonic Sect. Who sent you to the Imperial Serenity Sect? After me, or Xuenong?”

Forced to lie prone on the ground, Chen Zhou lifted her gaze upward.

Her playful eyes swept over Ji Caiyan: “Fairy Shen, can’t I be after the Ghost Moon Vine bloodline?”

Shen Yanting: “I guess you didn’t know about Caiyan carrying the Ghost Moon Vine bloodline before this.”

“Elder Shen.” Chen Zhou drew out the ending lightly, with a hint of mockery: “Then you’re wrong. I knew far earlier than you that Senior Sister Caiyan has the Ghost Moon Vine bloodline.”

Her gaze circled Shen Yanting once before finally landing on Ge Qiqin: “Third Senior Sister told me.”

Ge Qiqin didn’t have Chen Zhou’s high cultivation. Struck by a single Cold Water Talisman, she lay weakly curled on the ground, shivering nonstop: “Cold.”

Chen Zhou raised her brow slightly: “She’s a fellow disciple you’ve known for years, Elder Shen. How can you be so ruthless?”

“How dare you accuse Senior Shishu Shen of being ruthless?” Ji Caiyan also harbored a deadly grudge against Chen Zhou and Ge Qiqin. Hearing Chen Zhou speak like this ignited her fury beyond suppression: “Let me ask you then—didn’t I treat you well, to provoke you into trying to kill me? Didn’t Shishu treat you well, only for you to take her resources while plotting against her in secret? Out-of-body realm late stage—what impressive strength. Weren’t you aggrieved hiding in the Imperial Serenity Sect for so many years?”

Ji Caiyan received the same treatment from Chen Zhou as Bo Xuenong had.

No matter how she vented, Chen Zhou never responded.

Chen Zhou didn’t even bother glancing her way. She stared straight at Shen Yanting, smiling lightly: “Fairy Shen, can’t you hear someone saying it’s cold?”

Bo Xuenong truly couldn’t fathom Chen Zhou’s intentions. Shen Yanting bent down slightly to meet Chen Zhou’s gaze: “Since you care so much about Qiqin, why did you lead her into demonic possession?”

Lead her into demonic possession?

Bo Xuenong thought about it and realized it was true. Though Ge Qiqin’s demonic qi was thick, she couldn’t control it well or wield it skillfully. After emerging from that barrier, she had no power to fight back, indicating half her strength relied on the barrier’s mysteries.

Ge Qiqin had likely fallen into demonic possession recently, forcibly advancing along the demonic path for greater power—gaining cultivation but not the matching prowess.

She didn’t know why Shen Yanting concluded Chen Zhou had led her into it, but if Shen Yanting said so, it must be true.

Bo Xuenong hurriedly chimed in: “Hypocrite.”

Chen Zhou ignored Bo Xuenong once again. She seemed only willing to speak with Shen Yanting, and the gaze she lifted carried a hint of madness. “Elder Shen, I was clearly helping her! You all don’t know yet, do you? She is the daughter of Divine Moon City’s City Lord Xu. Over four hundred years ago, this City Lord Xu killed his wife and daughter to marry a young lady of the Ji Clan. He dumped their corpses at Mass Grave Hill, but Qiqin barely clung to life and survived by luck. She hid and fled all the way until she finally reached the Imperial Serenity Sect, a safe place sheltered from wind and rain—only to run into her enemy. Carrying her blood feud, she lurked in the Imperial Serenity Sect for over four hundred years, facing her enemy day in and day out yet never daring to strike. I helped her gain power precisely so she could take revenge!”

Ge Qiqin was actually Xu Hongyong’s daughter.

This was something beyond everyone’s expectations.

When Ji Caiyan heard Chen Zhou’s words, she suddenly realized the truth even as fury surged within her. “I never forced Xu Hongyong to kill his wife and daughter. Back then, as soon as I learned he had a family, I immediately fled the marriage. In a way, I was also a victim—I was the one deceived. If not for circumstances beyond my control, if not for his lies, I never would have chosen him! If she wants revenge, she should go after Xu Hongyong!”

Chen Zhou rarely bothered to reason with Ji Caiyan. She let out a cold laugh. “You’re saying exactly the same thing as Third Senior Sister.”

“What do you mean?”

Chen Zhou’s fingers twitched. The knife piercing her palm suddenly shattered into powder. With no visible propulsion, her body lying on the ground lunged straight toward Bo Xuenong and Shen Yanting. The speed was so fast that even Shen Yanting didn’t have time to dodge. Bo Xuenong felt a sharp pain in her right calf as her body uncontrollably fell backward—thankfully, Shen Yanting caught her.

She wanted to chase after Chen Zhou, but her leg hurt too much.

Hiss.

What a hard head.